


Love Bites

by writeitinthestars



Category: Falling Skies
Genre: Alternate Universe - Warm Bodies, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, F/M, aka the warm bodies au, it's super important trust me, zombie!lourdes and human!hal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-29
Updated: 2015-02-16
Packaged: 2018-03-09 12:50:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3250328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writeitinthestars/pseuds/writeitinthestars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The dark haired girl shuffling through the abandoned airport doesn’t remember her name. She doesn’t remember how she died or anything about herself. All she knows is that she wears the same clothes everyday, she’s undead, and the sound that starts what might have been her name. Lo.<br/>When Lourdes Delgado ate the brain of the blonde girl who was out scouting for supplies, she didn't know things were about to change. But Karen Nadler's brain started a change in her. And Hal Mason helped start a change in everyone else.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hunger

_My name is Lo. Or at least it used to be. Or part of it anyway._

The dark haired girl makes her daily march shuffle through the abandoned airport. Abandoned in the sense of the word that barely anything in the airport has a heartbeat besides the occasional bird or butterfly that flutters in through one of the broken windows. Broken windows aren't a rare thing in the world after the so called 'apocalypse' hit. Especially in a place inhabited strictly by the dead. 

As the girl shambles past other members of the undead colony, the soles of her shoes scrape audibly against the concrete floor just as they do everyday. It's not like anyone has the sense to notice either, they're all too dead between the ears to notice almost anything happening around them if it doesn't have a heartbeat. Still, Lo finds herself shuffling just a smidge faster as she passes the skeletal remains starting to twitch on the floor. Even the undead are smart enough to fear the completely rotted boney corpses that litter the floor of the more desolate part of the airport. Still. The girl who could have been a teenager or in her early 20s (no one knew for sure anymore) didn't stop shuffling until she reached her destination.

_This is L. She's my best friend. And by best friend I mean we wander around together and sometimes exchange the occasional grunt or nod of the head. You know. Normal friend stuff. More like a sister. If I had a sister...did I have a sister?_

Lo settles herself, with some amount of difficulty onto the stool next to the smaller white haired girl sitting at the remains of what used to be a bar in the middle of the airport. It was the daily routine, or so it seemed, for the two of them to meet there. Just sit there and get away from the chaos of the other undead shuffling around and slamming into whatever windows weren't broken anymore.

The scraping of the chair alerts the other to her presence. And slowly (normal speed to someone like Lo), she turns her head and simply nods her head a little bit. Lo tries her best to pull her features into something resembling a smile but she only manages to let out a small grunt. L returns the gesture before turning her head slowly and staring at the zombie that has just collided with the side of the bar and is currently on the floor.

As if moving with the same mind, Lo and L both slide off of their stools and settle their feet on the floor to set off on the rest of their routine. Shuffling along side by side, the girls looked like nothing would draw them together if they both weren't members of the undead but some internal pull that seemed to pull them together day after day seems to tell them differently. Lo is shorter than most of the other undead in the airport, but she's still taller than L. Lo's hair is long and black and her skin, though pale in death, bears the resemblance to someone who may have had a slightly tan skin tone in life. The ripped jacket and long sleeve shirt that she wears conceals most of her skin, as do her jeans, but there's a long cut somewhere along her abdomen that's healed itself but not enough to remain unnoticed if poked or prodded at.

L, on the other hand, is so pale that she nearly glows. Her long white hair hangs limp over her shoulders and spends more time in her face than anywhere else. Even the dress she wore at the moment of death was white. So on some days when the sun shines bright, she's hard to look at with her pale skin nearly reflecting the sunlight.

A sudden grunt behind the two girls causes them to stumble as they stop shuffling for just a few seconds. They make eye contact for a few seconds as they turn slowly to see the red-headed zombie shambling slowly towards them. Her red hair had the appearance of hair that once had a lot of bounce to it, but in death, it just hung limp over her right shoulder.

_This is R. She's older than both L and me...I think. At least she looks older than L to me. She follows us everywhere almost like a mother would. Sometimes I half expect her to tell us to wait up because we forgot our lunch money. And then I remember. We're all dead and there's no need for lunch money. We find the lunch. We eat the lunch. And by lunch I mean brains._


	2. Hunters

The scout team going out that day was small. It was smaller than usual since John Pope had been a no show at the group meet up, They need medicine and lots of it according to Anne Glass. Technically, she's Hal's step-mother now but he just can't warm up to the idea of it especially after what happened with his mom.

Rebecca Mason had died nearly two years ago. Hal had just turned 17 at the time. It had been at their old safe zone. Given they weren't very far from the old airport anymore but it could hardly be considered safe anymore. It hadn't been since the day a hoard of zombies approached. The watchmen had missed them and soon enough, people were being bitten left and right. His mother. His half-sister. His friend. All gone. 

But there's no time for sentiment in Charleston. Or Chinatown for that matter. Besides. Now he had his girlfriend and his missions to keep his mind off his loss, but even now that didn't always work out the way he planned. Karen is only 18, a few months younger than Hal himself, but it's obvious to anyone that knows the pair that Karen has taken to the role of a scavenger more quickly than her boyfriend. Before it all started, Hal was the popular guy in school. Lacrosse player and all, but none of it mattered anymore. That's what Karen told him when she'd thrown a stray bean at his head after an hour of waiting after their meeting. “I don't care if she's meeting her kid or the damn President,” Hal nearly snorted at that since technically his father was the new president and they'd only just met with him, “go get her so we can be back in time for dinner.” So Hal Mason had pulled himself up off of his ass and set off to find their fellow scouts.

Hal Mason thought he spotted Pope slipping into his bar on the border of Chinatown and Charleston. It wasn't much, but Pope's was the place where people went when they needed to burn off some steam. It was more often than not in these days. Hal pushes the door to the establishment open and his senses are immediately assaulted with the mixed scents of smoke and greasy food. His eyes scan the dimly lit bar, hoping to find the other members of his scout group for the day. Because Karen is about halfway up his ass about getting this show on the road and no one, not even her own boyfriend, likes a pissed off Karen Nadler.

He knows where to find his self-proclaimed “battle buddy” Maggie the second he walks in the door. Not because he knows where her regular table is, but because he can spot her boyfriend's tall frame a million miles away. Hal makes his way over to the table, trying to look like he's all business as usual, but a smile makes it's way onto his face as the little boy perched on Maggie's lap spots him and waves enthusiastically. 

“Uncle Hal!”

It's not like Maggie is his sister and Lars is nowhere near being his brother, but the two of them are practically family. Maggie even stayed with the Masons in the large-almost mansion like home they live in at one point. Maggie and Anne had been close back in the airport when it was safe and had grown even closer when one of their mutual friends had been lost that day. So Maggie and her son, Avery, had stayed with them for a while. Only moving out a few months before into one of the apartments in better condition in the Chinatown section. Still. Hal and his brothers would always be 'uncle' to the kid and none of them had guts to tell him otherwise.

Reaching the table, Hal nods in greeting to Maggie and Lars before ruffling Avery's hair and kneeling down next to the blonde woman's seat to get on eye level with the little boy before speaking in a soft tone. “Hey, kiddo. I gotta borrow your mommy and Lars for a little bit is that okay?”

The innocence on the kid's face is damn near heartbreaking as he just nods and replies, “Okay, uncle Hal. Just make sure mommy comes back safe.”

“Of course, kiddo. I won't let ya' down. I promise.” And because Hal is a stand up guy, he nods at the small family unit before retreating back outside to give them time to have a proper goodbye and he fully intends to get that kid's family back safe and sound. 

For the next 15 minutes, Karen paces like a caged animal in front of Hal and he has to fight back the urge to tell her to find her god damn chill. He doesn't know what it's like to be a parent but he only wishes his own mother had the chance to say a proper goodbye before she got bitten. Even though the odds of Maggie getting back are higher than his own odds, he can't help but feel protective. The older woman is a better fighter by nature, fighting zombies is nothing compared to fighting cancer, but they protect each other. There's no other way to live.

“About time,” Karen stops with her hands on her hips as Maggie and Lars finally step out into the sunlight. Hal bites his tongue to keep from making a comment. Karen's a sweet girl at times but she doesn't really enjoy keeping her opinions to herself and neither does Maggie. He reminds himself to thank his father when he gets back for sending him on a scout with the two ladies who constantly butt heads the most. _Solid choice, dad._

As they pass through the makeshift security perimeter, Karen makes a grab for Hal's hand and he responds by linking their fingers together. He can't see her face from the angle they're walking at, but he imagines that the look on her face is somewhat comparable to a satisfied kitten. Because he really does love her and he tries to show it as much as he can. The Masons are the only thing close to family that she has left. Her whole family died back in Boston and Hal had helped her, saved her, and helped her get taken in by his family.

The four of them walk in groups of two, Hal and Karen hanging back behind the other two as they walk. After about 15 minutes of silence, Karen turns to look at Hal and he turns to face her at the same time with a concerned look on his face. “Hal, if one of us doesn't make it...” and she rattles off the same thing she says every time they go on a scout together. She says she loves him and Hal tells her that he loves her too because it's true. They aren't exactly the most affectionate couple in the world but they care about each other more than anything in their own little ways.

Maggie and Lars, on the other hand, walk side by side. Perfectly in step with each other, casting glances at each other out of the corners of their eyes. “Ya' know, when we get back I'm gonna take you out for a nice dinner, Mags. Without the kid this time.” And Maggie rolls her eyes and lets out a snort of laughter because she knows he means it in the best way possible. An actual date night would give them a sense of normalcy in a time when it's nearly impossible. 

“You mean like you did after the time when you tried to woo me with the story about how you killed seven Deads on your own with a tire iron?” She punches him playfully on the arm and he responds by shoving her shoulder lightly and the two laugh. Hal thinks they act like an old married couple at times and when he told Maggie this one time, she actually blushed though she would deny it to anyone who asks.

“Mags,” Hal hisses suddenly and catches the attention of the two walking in front of him. With a nod of his head, he motions towards the pharmacy up ahead and they all keep walking towards it. Because in the apocalypse, beggars can't be choosers.


	3. Become the Hunted

The only thing on Hal's mind when the small search party entered the run-down pharmacy is how close it is to their old safe zone. The airport they used to call home is just looming there in the distance, almost taunting him with the promise of more loss. But he doesn't have a chance to think about it as Karen breaks him out of his thoughts. 

“Hal,” his attention turns to his girlfriend standing on the stairs. The look on her face is one of understanding because they all lost people out there. Maggie takes a step outside and a quick turn of her head helps her to realize what's caught Hal's attention. 

“Come on, guys. The quicker we get this stuff for Dr. Glass, the quicker we can get out of here.” And she rolls her shoulders back, adjusting the strap of her shoulder bag as she does, and steps back inside. Crossing over the shattered glass of the store front window as she goes and Karen follows close behind with her gun at the ready. With one last look at the airport they used to call home, Hal follows his friends into the pharmacy. None of them want to be out there, he knows it, but Charleston has too many people in such a small space. Things like colds and the flu are starting to spread faster and they know they'll need more medicine if they want to keep their numbers up. Bad enough that the Dead are picking people off all the time, they don't need a curable disease taking more valuable people from them. 

Just as Hal steps into the back room of the pharmacy, Lars shoves a pack full of aspirin bottles at him and Hal passes him the empty pack from his own back in return. His mind is still wandering, so he settles for standing by the doorway and keeping watch while the others gather supplies.

“Do you think he's ok?” He hears Karen ask in a quiet voice and in his mind's eye, he can almost see Maggie shrugging her shoulders before she answers.

“Don't know. Are any of us really ok after what happened?” 

“It was two years ago,” Karen hisses back at her.

Maggie sounds harsher when she answers. Like she's scolding a child instead of talking to a teen only a few years younger than herself. “Yeah? And how many people did you loose that day? Because he lost damn near half his family, you...”

“Quiet!” Hal snaps without looking away from the horizon. For a second he thought he'd heard something moving out there. “....We gotta go.”

“What?” Lars peeks his head out from behind a shelf. Hal motions for everyone to be quiet and as silence falls, they hear it. The quiet scratching at the door. Then silence. Guns raised towards the door, Maggie and Karen both begin taking slow steps back. Then someone steps on a piece of glass and there's no time to figure out who it is because the back door is breaking down and a zombie shambles it's way in faster than Hal's seen before. Because it's mind, or what little mind it has left, is focused on nothing but brains. Before anyone can register what's going on, there's screaming outside and Hal knows that another search party has come across the same thing they have. 

Karen pulls the trigger of her gun faster than anyone else and empties a few bullets into the Dead that was advancing towards Maggie and the other girl looks sick as she takes a quick look at the corpse. “Shit, is that...”

 _“Lee_...They're from the airport. What the fuck are they doing out this far? All the others we've seen...” And Lars trails off as a few more shamble through the door.

People they knew back when they could still be considered people and not seemingly soulless husks of who they used to be. All people they lost over the past few years and Hal vaguely wonders if anyone he'd lost is there. He barely registers Maggie grabbing him by the back of his collar as she's being dragged out by Lars. And Karen's a few steps in front of him. There's bodies scattered all around and his hands are shaking and the air smells like gun powder and Hal has a feeling almost all their bullets are gone because, even though he was too spaced out to remember clearly, he knows he took down a few of them. 

“We gotta go,” Maggie says quietly to Hal as Lars keeps pulling her towards the front door by her arm. Hal's about to walk out with them when he sees it. One of their bags laying on the ground with pill bottles scattered around it. Instinct kicks in and, despite the fact he hears everyone shouting at him to come back, he runs and grabs the strap of the pack. 

“Guys look out!” Maggie shouts from the doorway and Hal just has time to notice her face is paler than ever before Lars pulls her out of the building and he registers the quiet growling coming from the broken back door. 

The look of shock on Karen's face is the next thing he notices before it happens. “No...L...” and whatever Karen was going to say next is cut off by the loud scream she lets out as a human figure with dark hair barrels past him, effectively knocking him out of the way of it's next meal. Karen's screams are bloodcurdling and they're over so quick that it doesn't even matter that Hal is fumbling with his gun. All that's left is the crunching sound that comes from the girl devouring what's left of his girlfriend. Making a move to get up, his foot hits one of the pill bottles and the rattling sound alerts the only moving undead in the room to his presence.

And if his heart wasn't beating a million miles a minute before, it sure as hell was now. Because he realizes what Karen was trying to say before the thing attacked her. She knew it. Hal knew it. Or he knew the girl the thing used to be. She's wearing the same ratty clothes she was the day that it happened and Hal's stomach churns as he keeps a tight grip on the empty gun at his right side. The girl straightens up and starts moving towards him and his heart rate quickens again because he's not ready to die. He has too much to live for. Even without Karen.

His brothers. He probably should have told them he loved them more. He shouldn't have fought with his dad as much. He shouldn't have been such a bastard to Anne because it's not her fault she didn't know his dad was married with a 3 year old son and a baby at home when they had an affair. Because Anne had lost her daughter that day and he should've been more compassionate. _Should've. Should've. Should've..._

And the list of things he should've done stops short and he holds his breath and meets the eyes of the dead girl in front of him. He waits and doesn't move. Partially because he knows he's about to die and partially because he's too terrified to move a muscle. And then she surprises him just like she always did and, if he ignores the blood and brain matter in her teeth, she's his friend again. Her hand dips into the pool of blood Hal's sitting in (from the zombie collapsed and bloody only a half a foot away) and slowly raises her hand to touch his cheek. 

“Lourdes....” His voice comes out shaky and he sounds like he's about to break.

The girl opens her mouth and he almost has a heart attack because her voice is scratchy and her speech is disjointed to all hell, but he just manages to understand what she's telling him.

_“Safe”_


End file.
